Inside | Shane Harte

31 | The sky

When I open my eyes the next morning, a strong arm has got a tight grip around my waist. A warm breath fans my neck, causing my skin to shiver as a smile spreads across my lips. Suddenly, I feel a fingertip traveling against the skin of my back causing me to jump.

"Sorry" Shane's hoarse morning voice fills the silent room and I laugh a little while turning around to face him. His dark hair is tousled and I can't help but place a hand in it.

"What's up?" I smile.

"The sky"

I shake my head and release his hair from my grip, but before my hand lands on the bed he grabs it. His thumb brushes the top and I close my eyes for a little bit.

"I'm telling Bridget today. About us, I mean" he says, causing my eyes to open again.

"Really?" I grin and roll over on top of him. I actually thought he was joking when he told me that yesterday. His arms embrace my waist as I place the side of my face on his chest.

"Yeah, really" he says, his deep voice sending vibrations throughout his entire upper body.

"Okay. Good" I say. We stay in the same position for a while before my phone alarm sets off. "Shoot! School starts soon"

"Yeah, in two hours!" Shane says in a light, sarcastic voice trying to mimic mine. I glare at him and jump out of bed to change. I pull out the outfit I prepared yesterday and turn towards Shane with a meaning look on my face.

"What?" he asks confusingly.

"Get out, I'm changing" I say with an obvious voice, and he starts laughing while getting out of bed. But instead of walking towards the door, he walks up to me.

"I can help you change" he whispers jokingly with a creepy voice and I slap him loosely on the arm, laughing.

"Seriously Shane, get out!" I say and point towards the door. He puts up his arms in defense and starts walking backwards.

"Okay, okay, I'm going" he laughs and walks out of the room, closing the door after himself. I smile and change into the outfit. It's a grey knitted shirt with black, high waisted jeans. I leave my face without makeup, grab my bag and open the door to walk out when I discover Shane standing right outside.

"There you are, thought you would never be ready" he says while looking at his phone with a concentrated face.

"You were seriously waiting right outside my door the entire time?" I ask, trying to hold back my laughter.

"No... My door is right next to yours. I went inside my room for a few seconds to grab my bag, but other than that, yeah I seriously waited outside your room the entire time"

I laugh and walk past him, with my bag thrown over the shoulder. He follows me as I walk down the stairs to meet the rest of the family sitting around the kitchen table. The atmosphere changes into a more stiff one when they notice Shane behind me. It's like they're awaiting to see what mood he's on.

"Good morning" I smile politely to loosen up the tension, and when Shane doesn't say anything but look down in his phone I gently push him in the side with my elbow, indicating that he should greet his family as well. He sighs.

"Morning"

Their faces change into surprised but then quickly go back to normal again. I smile proudly and Shane rolls his eyes.

"Good morning" Isabel greets with a big smile. "I see you make a good impact on him. That's good"

"Excuse you, I'm here in case you didn't notice" he mutters while grabbing a piece of bread. I glare at him and he sits down with a sarcastic smile plastered on his face. I shake my head and sit down next to Cora.

"So, what are the plans for this week?" I ask her while grabbing a bowl and some cereal.

"I actually don't know. A lot of kids are finishing or recording their songs this week, and some of us classical students have to help out. So I guess that's what I'm gonna do"

"Oh, right. I'm recording the song with Trevor tomorrow" I remind myself with a slight remorse growing in me. It had almost slipped my mind.

"And also, don't forget that the great Fernando Daniel is having a concert in the auditorium tonight" Shane surprisingly jumps into the conversation with the usual sarcastic tone in his voice, from his originally silent eating.

"What? Why haven't I heard about it?" I ask, and he shrugs.

"I don't know. It's probably for the best though, we're not going anyway"

"Are you kidding? Of course we are going!" I grin and he sighs.

The day passes by in one and I decide to stay at school after classes are done, so I don't have to go back and forth between home and school. Shane unwillingly stay as well, after a few grunts and rolls of eyes.

I haven't seen much of Trevor today, indicating that he and Shane are kind of ignoring each other. It's sad in a way, because it splits up the whole acoustic rock group into two.